


christmas angel

by freedomatsea



Series: Hell's Kitchen Universe Pieces [9]
Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: F/M, Kastle Secret Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-12 01:58:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9050713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/freedomatsea/pseuds/freedomatsea
Summary: A Kastle Secret Santa fic, where Frank moves in with Karen.





	

**Author's Note:**

> For Erica

“So,” Karen started as she slipped into the booth across from him. Her hair was drawn back in a messy bun and his fingers itched to tuck a loose strand behind her ear.

“ _ So _ ?” Frank questioned, sweeping his finger around the curve of his coffee mug, instead of reaching out to play with her hair. 

“It’s five days till Christmas.” 

Frank arched a brow. “I’m aware of that.” He brought the mug up to his lips, taking a swig of coffee. “It’s hard to forget. Every street corner has those damned bell-ringing Santas.” He shuddered. He wasn’t  _ against _ Christmas so to speak, but it had certainly lost its appeal since he’d lost his family. Not to mention the fact that everyone was bustling around the city, blissfully unaware of the sinister underbelly. 

Karen’s shoulders sagged. “I figured you wouldn’t really be in the Christmas spirit.” She motioned for the waitress to bring her a mug of coffee too. “But I also know it’s starting to get colder and I  _ know _ you don’t live anywhere that has heat and-”

“You trying to ask me to move in with you, Karen?” Frank questioned with an amused chuckle. “Pretty forward of you.” He took another swig of his coffee, relishing the warmth of it as it slid down his throat. “Thought we were taking it slow this time around.” 

“We are.” Karen said quickly, thanking the waitress as she stopped by the table to give her her mug of coffee and top off Frank’s. “This _ is _ slow. I’m not trying to make this something that it’s not. I just thought you’d like a warm sofa to sleep on. It’s the holidays… you shouldn’t be sleeping in some cold abandoned warehouse. What about Max?” 

“He sleeps with more damn blankets than I do.” Frank remarked with a wry smirk. “And that sweater you got him. Even though it’s ruining his street cred.” 

Karen laughed brightly. It was a good look on her. Her eyes filled with joy, her head tilted back as she laughed, a grin spreading over her lips. It made his heart clench, flooded with an unfamiliar warmth. “You never sent me a picture. You promised.” 

“If you’re worried about him… I suppose he could come stay with you over the winter months.” Frank rubbed at the back of his neck. He’d miss the dog, he had been enjoying having a little company. But, Karen was right. The warehouse was no place for a dog in this weather. 

“I’m worried about  _ you _ .” Karen insisted, reaching across the table to curl her hand around his hand. “Just until the New Year?”

Frank’s eyes fell to where her hand was curled around his. He tried to resist the urge to pull it away from her hold, but he wasn’t quite able to fight it. He pulled away from her, tucking his hand beneath the table, glancing out the window. “I don’t know Karen…” He  _ wanted _ to stay with her. He wanted that human connection, but he knew it wasn’t fair to her. He was a dangerous man, playing a dangerous game, and she was already too close to him. The city’s underbelly was well aware that Karen Page had a soft spot for Frank Castle. She’d given herself away in the articles she wrote about him.

They hadn’t even been able to stay away from each other. After they’d parted ways, after she’d told him that he was dead to her, he tried - he damn well  _ tried _ \- to keep his distance. But that didn’t work. They were the flame to the other’s moth, constantly fluttering too close and getting burned, but always coming back for more. 

She deserved better than him. She deserved a man that was whole, that wasn’t a monster masquerading as a man. He wasn’t right. He was fucked up. He could admit that without shame. At least, without the shame that he kept buried deep. 

Frank Castle could never offer her anything. And the Punisher could only offer her heartbreak. She deserved better than that. Karen Page deserved the whole goddamn world and everything good she made him see in it. 

“ _ Karen _ .” Frank blew out a breath, shaking his head. “Shit… I don’t know if this is a good idea…” He gestured between them before raking his hand over his face. The booth felt entirely too small and the whole restaurant felt too constricting. 

“Frank, it doesn’t have to be this complicated.” 

“ _ What _ doesn’t have to be? What is  _ this  _ Karen?” Frank questioned, pinching the bridge of his nose, trying to keep his shit together. 

“I don’t know.” Karen admitted with a frown. “I honestly don’t know. All I know is that I really enjoy being around you… we just get each other. We always have. Without judging. And you’re honest with me. I like that about you. You don’t lie to me.” She shook her head, staring down at her coffee mug like it had all the answers. “I don’t know.” 

Frank’s brows knit together as he listened to her, nodding his head slowly in agreement with her words. A part of him wanted to give this a try… just staying at her place. Seeing what it was like to be part of something again. As this new man that war within him had made. “Do you ever make pancakes?”

“ _ What _ ?”

“For breakfast.” 

Karen stared at him in confusion. “At my place? Yeah… I make them sometimes…  _ Wait _ . Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

Frank smiled a little, scratching at his ear shyly. “I think I am. Yeah.” 

* * *

It was strange to wake up to the smell of pancakes wafting through the air. Frank opened one eye, stretching out his legs on the sofa. Max was curled up under his arm, still sound asleep, snoring in fact. 

“You're gonna spoil us, Karen.” Frank remarked, his voice low and sleep laden. 

“Just wait till Max catches scent of the sausage I'm about to cook.” Karen remarked, “But don't expect this every morning.” She laughed. “I'm usually eating cereal or grabbing something at Starbucks.”

“I don't need breakfast every morning.” Frank said as he got off the sofa. Max jumped down, wandering over to where Karen was cooking, putting his paws up on side of the counter, sniffing around interestedly. 

“Down boy.” Karen laughed, grabbing one of the sausages and giving it to him. Max’s tail thumped against the floor as he sat down and ate the meat. “How did you sleep?”

“Not bad.” Frank said, rubbing at his eyes. “Better than I ever slept in that warehouse.”

“Told you.” Karen said with a grin. “And I bet neither of you got cold.”

Frank smiled at her. “Nope. I know you've made Max a happy dog.” He patted the pit bull on the head. 

“Four days till Christmas.” Karen said as she flipped the pancakes onto their plates. 

“Yeah.” Frank nodded. “You’re big into Christmas aren't you?” He’d noticed that she had a small tabletop Christmas tree in her family room and he’d spotted some coloured twinkle lights in her bedroom. 

“Kind of. We didn't really celebrate it a lot when I was a kid, but I promised myself that I would when I got older.” She shrugged as she handed him his plate. “I didn't really think about whether or not it would bother you.”

“It doesn't  _ bother _ me.” Frank assured her. “I missed a lot of Christmases with the kids. It's just another day.” He moved to sit down at the kitchen table, forking up some of his pancakes with a satisfied groan. “Damn that's good.”

“Thanks.” Karen smiled, sitting down across from her. “I'm sorry Christmas is just another day to you. It was like that for me as a teenager.”

“Yeah,” Frank shrugged. “Christmas in a warzone ain't like  _ White Christmas _ .” He took another bite of the pancakes. “Maria would video call me, the kids would show me what they got. I never got to do one of those surprise Christmas homecomings.” He blew out a breath. “It's all kinda distant memories now.” It was still salt to a mostly open wound. “But I'm not gonna ruin it for you.”

Hell. He should get her something. What would she even want? A necklace or something? Some sort of bag for her stuff at the newspaper? What would Karen Page want for Christmas?

* * *

Frank tried not to ruin Karen’s holiday cheer with black eyes and bloody lips, which meant he avoided the apartment for an entire day. His absence was noticed and she texted him worriedly about whether or not he'd be home.

She apologised hastily over texts about calling her apartment home. He let them sit. Read but unanswered. It was cruel, not just to her but to himself, too. Because some part of him agreed with that word. A part of him wanted to see her place as home but that other part of him refused. If he hadn't had a busted lip and a black eye, that one little slip up would have been the nail in his coffin.

He avoided being in her apartment when she was there until Christmas Eve. It wasn't fair to her to make her worry about him on the eve of a holiday that seemed to mean something to her. 

Especially when he had gone out of his way to find her a gift. It wasn't much. He didn't have much to give. But it looked like her. It was a strangely cheerful coffee cup with a newsprint designs all over it. It was simple; but it was her. She loved her coffee, after all.

Frank tapped his knuckles against the window at her fire escape, meeting her eyes as she looked up from giving Max a treat. The poor dog was in that ridiculous sweater she'd got for him, and he'd never looked happier. Karen, on the other hand, wore a look of surprised disappointment. 

“I thought you'd vanished for good.” She remarked as she pulled the window open to let him in, turning her back on him almost immediately. 

“I know. I should have explained myself.” Frank rubbed at the back of his head, “I'm sorry about that, Karen. It wasn't right of me.” He lowered his gaze, before he presented the small gift bag to her. “Merry Christmas.”

“Christmas is tomorrow.”

“I know.” Frank smiled sheepishly, “But I want you to have it tonight.”

“You not planning to be here tomorrow?” She questioned, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “Don’t run off again, Frank.”

“I'm not.” Frank promised and he meant it. At least for tonight. “I just want you to have this Karen.”

Karen took the bag cautiously, before pulling the tissue paper out of it. “Frank!” She smiled brightly at him, pulling the mug out of the bag. “This is perfect.”

“I know it's not much but-” Frank’s words ran dry when Karen threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around him. It felt right. To have her in his arms, her thin frame pressed against his chest, her face nestled in the crook of his neck. 

Something had shifted between them. He'd known it all along. They'd crossed one line and then another, and now they'd both taken one huge step towards  _ this _ . Frank pulled back a little, his eyes searching her face. 

_ Well shit _ .

He wasn't quite sure which one of them leaned in first. Him or her. It didn't really matter. One of them did. Both of the did. Lips meeting lips, heads tilting, fingers curling. 

Max was apparently keen to get involved too, barking and pushing himself in between their legs. He broke up the awkwardness that came as they pulled back.

“I got you something too.” Karen said, pressing her palm against his chest, before she stepped back and headed into her bedroom. She came back out a few minutes later with a nicely wrapped little box that fit in his palm. “It's not much.”

Frank carefully tore the paper and opened the box. Inside the box there was a dog tag with an angel neatly carved into it. 

“It's a guardian angel.” Karen’s cheeks were bright red and she shifted nervously on her heels. “The, um, the eyes…” She shook her head, “They're my birth stone. I'm not particularly religious, but I know you were once upon a time. And it's a dog tag, so I thought… Do you like it?”

“I love it Karen.” Frank smiled, stepping towards her slowly, rubbing his thumb over the dog tag in his palm. “Thank you.”

“You're welcome Frank.” Karen leaned in and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I can't wait to have my Christmas morning coffee in my new mug.”

Frank nodded his head slowly, his eyes never leaving her face. Everything else fell away when he was with Karen, when he let it. She calmed that beast that made his mind it's home. She was more a guardian angel than she would ever know. His guardian angel. 


End file.
